MARVEL BEATS D.C. IN NOVEMBER-But by a thin margin!

Last month, I reported that DC beat Marvel in overall comic book sales-a rare win for DC in the battle between the big two-but Marvel has surged back to squeak out a win in November, taking 39% of the market against DC’s 31%. Cutting to the chase, here’s the top 10:

Nice to see Image in the top 10, and nice to see something that isn’t a #1 issue as well-and one in the triple-digits, no less! New comics always sell best, so in a month with lots of Marvel relaunches, Marvel recaptured the market. Marvel’s Avengers #1 came in at #11, Unworthy Thor was #18, and even Ghost Rider, Thanos, and Black Panther’s spin-off title cracked the top 40. Indie launches did well, too. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 11 #1 hit almost 15k sold. BOOM! had a solid win with their WWE Then Forever #1 comics, selling almost 13,000 comics.

In the world of second issues, Lootcrate promos like Big Trouble/Escape from New York and Orphan Black saw extreme dips, and even Marvel’s well-reviewed Champions series lost 85% of its sales on the second issue. The second issues of the Archie Comics launches from October all dropped significantly. Why do people like #1 issues so much?

On to trade paperbacks, where Marvel also won-selling 49% of all trades sold last month, compared to DC at 25%. It was also a month where the Doctor Strange movie came out, yet many of Marvel’s best-sellers (both here and in the top loose comics sold) weren’t clear movie tie-ins. Here’s the top 10:

Paper Girls Vol. 1 was also in the top 40, as were high quality books like Marvel’s Old Man Logan reissue, Monstress Vol. 1 (Image), Saga Volumes 1 and 6, Multiversity (DC), and Nailbiter Volume 5 (Image). Also nice to see Grant Morrison’s Santa Claus origin story, Klaus, coming in just under the wire at #41 for BOOM! Studios.

What gave Marvel such a rich dollar share was their Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus, priced at $125 and selling over 2,000 copies. Well done, Doug Moench!